crapo: thank you. as we come up to votes on this bill, i wanted to take one more opportunity to speak in favor of the tria reauthorization legislation. again, i want to thank senators schumer, heller, kirk, and their staffs and senator reid for their hard work in bringing forward this legislation. also chairman johnson and his staff for moving forward with us so quickly and aggressively on it legislation. together we were able to put together a bill that allows the program to continue to function while increasing the movement toward ultimate taxpayer protection. as i mentioned before, we were able to approve this bill out of committee with a 22-0 unanimous vote. the agreement by all of the members of the baipging committee that we should move this bill forward speaks to the importance of this critical legislation. and to the level of the added taxpayer protections that we were able to build moo it. -- into it. our bill increases the level of losses that the private sector will absorb before reaching th

i want to thank senator crapo for his support. he and i have been at this with senator risch and senator merkley and senator cantwell and senator murray, senator bennet. all of the western senators, senator udall has been doing important work on this on the energy and natural resources committee. all of the western senators are of like mind here. and chair mikulski recognizing what we're looking at. and the prospect that we would be leaving this week without this change to make better use of our resources i think is just -- i call it legislative malpractice. because we have an opportunity in a bipartisan way to make a real difference here, and given what our colleagues are seeing if they are outside the west, i'd say it's a chance to spend scarce dollars more effectively and for us in the west it's nothing short of survival. mr. president, with that, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico is recognized. mr. heinrich: let me begin by just thanking my colleague from oregon for

senator mike crapo, ranking member. we do expect this to get under way in just a moment here live on cspan 3. >> i call this hearing to order. this morning, we welcome chair yellen back to the committee for testimony on the fed reserve semiannual monetary policy report to the congress. since chair yellen was last before the committee, bernard hall was confirmed by the senate to serve on the board. it is important that the fed maintain a full complement of governors to effectively carry out his monetary policy and regulatory functions. to that end, there are two remaining spots to be filled on the board and i hope for swift nomination of well-qualified candidates with expertise in community banking as well as tough and effective oversight experience. the fed continues to grapple with many present issues that span both monetary and regulatory policy, and look forward to hearing chair yellen's perspective on these issues today. the steady path to economic recovery following the great recession took a sidestep with fourth q

thank you. >> thank you, senator crapo. to reserve time for questions, opening statements will be limited to the chair and ranking member. i would like to remind my colleagues that the record will be open for the next seven days for additional statements and other materials. i would now like to welcome chair janet yellen back to the committee. dr. yellen is serving her first term as chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system. prior to holding this position, dr. yellen served as vice-chair of the board for over 30 years. she has also previously served as chair of the council of economic advisors and president and ceo of the federal reserve bank of san francisco. chair yellen, it's good to see you once again. please begin your testimony. >> thank you. chairman johnson, ranking member crapo, and members of the committee, i'm pleased to present the federal reserve's semiannual monetary policy report to the congress. in my remarks today, i will discuss the current economic situation and outlook before turning

and finally, as i've tupped on, senator crapo and senator bennet have done very good work. as we all know,th,chair of the environment and public works committee, it is dry, dry, dry in the west. what senator crapo and senator bennet have done is going to deliver water to farmers across the west. with those bipartisan initiatives, mr. president, we were able to pick up such important groups as america's natural gas alliance, the national rural electric cooperatives association and the western agriculture and conservation association. they're not out there saying that they want to have the bipartisan hatch-wyden legislation, but they do know that the only way to advance these important ideas is by adopting the amendment that the distinguished senator from utah and i have offered. now, we've had some talk about how there's just not enough ti time. mr. president, i heard that statement made earlier today. i've made it clear to all concerned, and i'll state it again, this work is going to be done this week. this is nonnegotiable. the congress is going to get this resolved this w

thank you. >> thank you, senator crapo. to reserve time for questions, opening statements will be limited to the chair and ranking member. i would like to remind my colleagues that the record will be open for the next seven days for additional statements and other materials. i would now like to welcome chair janet yellen back to the committee. dr. yellen is serving her first term as chair of the board of governors of the federal reserve system. prior to holding this position, dr. yellen served as vice-chair of the board for over 30 years. she has also previously served as chair of the council of economic advisors and president and ceo of the federal reserve bank of san francisco. chair yellen, it's good to see you once again. please begin your testimony. >> thank you. chairman johnson, ranking member crapo, and members of the committee, i'm pleased to present the federal reserve's semiannual monetary policy report to the congress. in my remarks today, i will discuss the current economic situation and outlook before turning

. >> crapo is giving remarks, introducing yellen. equity value weighs of smaller firms as well as social media and biotech firms appears to stretched. quoted on that, and facebook, twitter, yelp, intraday, at 10:00 a.m., you see the drop, as yellen weighed in on stocks. >> that's in the testimony? >> that's a greenspan moment there a little bit. >> we'll watch that. and, of course, we talked about the bigger picture, no material change. her she is in front of the senate banking committee. >> semiannual report to congress. in my remarks today, i'll discuss the current economic situation in outlook before turning to monetary policy. i will conclude with a few words about financial stability. the economy is continuing to make progress towards the federal reserve's objectives of maximum employment and price state. in the labor market, gains in total nonfarm payroll total employment averaged 30,000 a month over the first half of this year. a somewhat stronger pace than in 2013 and enough to bring the total increase in jobs during the econ

. >> your approach senator crapo senator warner, crapo and johnson and i think frankly that's where we are and the chairman said chairman hensarling we are going to do fannie and freddie but the fact is the bill hasn't gone to the floor. i understand it was the chairman's job to get it through. i know what those are like but we have three or four weeks le left. i think it's pretty pretty clear that bill clinton passed the house because it represents a viewpoint that is a valid intellectual viewpoint by the minority and more people agree with you mr. delaney mr. carney that you need to have some involvement to protect people against the credit risk on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. our prediction is that republicans are going to complete their fourth year in a row of controlling the house and having passed the legislation on the gses i wish that weren't the case. >> my time is up running out but i'd be interested in the panelists view on the various bills before this committee. we have a lot of discussion today about differentiating banks and the chairman has come up with some thoughts.

charan johnson, ranking member crapo, and members of the committee i am pleased to present the federalemiannual monetary policy report to the congress. and my remarks today i will discuss the current economic situation and outlook before turning to monetary policy. i welcome clued with a few words about financial stability. the economy is continuing to make progress toward the federal reserve's objectives of maximum employment and price stability. in the labor market gains in the total payroll employment averaged about 230,000 per month over the first half of this year. a somewhat stronger pace than 2013 and enough to bring the total increase in the jobs and the economic recovery this far up to 9 million. the unemployment rate has fallen nearly one and a half percentage point over the past year. it's down about four percentage points from the peak. broad measures of the labor utilization have also registered notable improvements over the past year. they have declined sharply in the first quarter. the decline appears to have resulted mostly. the recent indicators of the production spend

i've joined senators wyden and crapo on their bipartisan biparl that would treat wildfires like other natural disasters and making sure we're not fighting fires that could have been prevented. this is a sensible approach for many reasons. it's cosponsored by 120 members of the congress in the house and the senate, and it's endorsed by over 1 who ooh groups ranging from the timber industry to the environmental community. that speaks to the broad support obviously. my hometown, the coast put it this -- "the denver post" pus it this way, using disaster fund money for wildfires could solve a lot of problems long term and we hope congress sees it that way. i hope that my colleagues see it that way. if we're serious here about helping prevent future wildfires and reducing the threats to lives and property, we'd all join together and pass this legislation. proper wildfire budgeting and the use of disaster relief funds would help break this vicious cycle of fire borrowing and allow our natural resource agencies to manage healthy forests instead of fighting megafires. i have the great privileg

i've also filed an amendment with senators barrasso, crapo, harchtion lee, murkowski and risch to require the department of interior to suspend for ten years a listing decision in states with approved or endorsed sage gross mangtsd plans. wyoming has an endorsed and approved plan an sage gross is coming bafnlg the new report on numbers just showed an increase. the amendment allows states to manage and conserve sage gross in a manner that protects their jurisdiction over state wildlife and takes into account local state stakeholders. i believe it is related to the underlying bill because of the substantial impact the sage gross list wooing have on sporting and recreation in western states. even though they say there is a sage gross problem, the bag limits for huntin hunting them t gone down. i have also cosponsored some amendments that would improve this bill. one of these amendments by senator barrasso would prevent the e.p.a. from regulating all bodies of water, even ones that are dried up. even ones that are seasonal. no matter how small and regardless of whether the water is on public

i'm happy to talk about having me torture myself with crapo johnson. i'm happy to talk about this as we go forward. for this congress, they are dead. we should have arbitration. arbitrage. i do think we need to get away from thinking of winners and losers in terms of which sectors of society. one of the things in my opinion of why we have decades of wage stagnation is because we haven't invested in increased labor productivity. if you want to see wages go up, make workers more productive. pricingup that house does not make people more productive. you can certainly draw those things poorly as well, but they are things that have a chance of increasing wages and reducing wage stagnation. awesome --ot have an and off budget. i don't think we should use finance is a tool. if you want transfers, do them on budget. there are a variety of ways to that honestly. hiding those things would just come back and blow about you. i will turn back to john. i think we have time for a few questions. [applause] do have time for a few questions. maybe one or two. >> i agree

including this important provision in the supplemental bill and i would like to thank senators wyden and crapo for their tireless leadership in the fight to end fire borrowing. the proposal included in the emergency appropriations supplemental is a fiscally responsible solution to a devastating problem with wide-ranging impacts. it will help us respond to wildfires and support businesses and thousands of jobs in the timber industry 23 in wisconsins well as throughout the country. and i would urge my colleagues in the senate and the house to come together to solve this problem once and for all. madam president, i yield back. mr. heller: madam president? the presiding officer: the senatosenator from nevada. mr. heller: thank you, madam president. last week a piece was written about israel's interest in cross-border violence. rather, the goal of the current military action is to establish peace. i believe the writer correctly suggests that israel has been left with no choice but to act in order to defend herself from the terrorist organization hamas. thpiece also made the important conclusion tha

president, senator crapo and i would like to introduce the idaho county shooting range land conveyance act. idahoans deeply value their second amendment rights and recreational use for firearms for hunting and shooting sports is common. use of firearms in idaho is a tradition often passed through the generations and many use it as an opportunity to teach safe and responsible practices to their children. we have been working on this matter and on this particular issue since 2010 as it relates to this particular parcel of ground. idaho county needs adequate resources to provide this not only for its citizens but also for its citizens. the sheriff's office cannot effectively train their staff in firearms use because they simply do not have the facilities. should the idaho county shooting range act conveyance be enacted, a 31-acre parcel of land in idaho will be transferred from the united states government to idaho county for use as a gun range which will be maintained by the county. it is enthusiastically supported by both the idaho county sheriff's office, the county commissioners and t

senator cardin and senator crapo have introducedduced an amendme, the national fish habitat conservation act. again, a bipartisan amendment led by senator cardin, clearly relevant to this measure. why -- why would we not want to have the opportunity to advance some of these provisions that members feel will enhance a bill that already has good, strong support? so i -- i want to make sure that members know that i am fully committed to a full and open amendment process, that republicans would like to see a full and open amendment process, and that we get moving. instead of talking about getting moving, we're actually going to make that happen. so i thank those who have come forward and offered their support for this measure. a lost work has gone into crafting the bill, but i'm fearful, madam president, that once again we're at risk of basically being cast aside because of political keynes. -- because of political concerns. so i would ask the majority leader to reconsider his view that relevant amendments are too difficult to vote on. we have to return to regular order. we have to have a fa

and senators bennet and crapo to make sure that we can deliver water to farmers across the nation. madam president, the american farm bureau has endorsed this amendment. the other body is saying it's our way or no highway. and i would ask colleagues, is that what we're sent here to the senate to do,? that we accept every dotted i and crossed t from the other body and is that i's fine. colleagues, we talk about regular order. how is it regular order to be a rubber stamp for the other body? this is going to be done this week, madam president. that is nonnegotiable. this bill will be finished this week. what should be ne -- go ti ab le is the senate and the other body should have a chance to work out differences and working that out is as important as regular order on voting on amendments. let's vote to be the united states senate and not have the other body dictate that it's either their way or no highway. i urge my colleagues strongly to support the first amendment. it is a bipartisan amendment from senator hatch and i with virtual unanimity in the finance committee. and with that,

with that, i will now turn to ranking member crapo for his opening statement. >> thank you, mr.rman. welcome, chair yellen. during chair yellen's nomination hearing, i noted the need to fill the additional vacancies that the chairman referenced at the federal reserve board with individuals bringing balanced viewpoints. again, i say that the president should nominate someone with community bank experience to the board to fill one of the remaining vacancies. community banks play an important role in their local economies and face a disproportionate burden from regulation. we should ensure that the perspective of those banks is represented in regulatory policy making. today's hearing is another important opportunity to discuss monetary policy and financial regulatory policy. since our last hearing with chair yellen, the fed has continued to reduce the pace of its large scale asset purchases known as quantitative easing or qp. it has been a welcome development to see that under the chair's direction. this process of tapering has begun and now we will likely be able to see all qp pur

testimony of all the people -- >> i think your approach, the approach in the senate, with senator crapo -- >> johnson. >> and johnson. and i think, frankly, that's why we are -- the chairman said, well, we're going to do fannie and freddie. the fact is that bill hasn't gone to the floor. i understand it's a real chairman's job to get it through. i know what those are like. you have about three or four weeks left in the total session of five weeks. i think it's pretty clear that bill couldn't pass the house because it represents a viewpoint that's a valid intellectual viewpoint but that's a minority, more people agree with you, mr. delaney, mr. carney, you need to have some involvement to protect people against the credit risk on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. my prediction is that the republicans are going to complete their fourth year in a row of controlling the house and having passed no legislation in the house on gses. i wish that weren't the case. >> my time is running out, but i'd be interested on the panelists' view on the bills before the committee. we had a lot of discussion

chairman johnson, senator schumer, he worked with ranking member crapo, and they came up with a way forward on an important piece of legislation. there will be some amendments, but we'll finish this legislation this week. very important. important to our country, important to our economy, important to the construction industry. so i was very happy to see that done. so there are no votes tonight. and that's the reason for that. there will be no roll call votes during today's session, as i mentioned. the next roll call will be tomorrow at noon on two cloture nominations on members of the federal energy and regulatory commission. mr. president, the republicans have made a decision on a lawsuit against president obama. it is difficult to understand how they have become so desperate that now they're talking about our issue of the day is not minimum wage. our issue of the day is not that women and men get the same amount of money for doing the same work. the issue of the day is not the crippling debt that's staggering this country. that is student loan debt and extended unemployment benefits; tha

crapo: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from idaho the. mr. crapo: pursuant to section 904 and the waivable provisions of applicable budget provisions, i move to waive all points of order against the bill and i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the question is on the motion to waive. all debate time has expired. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change their vote? if not, the vote is 47 yeas, 49 nays. the motion is -- thee-finals of the senators duly chosen not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. under the previous order, there will be -- the amendment falls. under the previous order, there will be two minutes of debate prior to a vote in relation to the vitter amendment number 3550. the senator from new york. shiewm i yiel mr. schumer: i yield back all time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: objection.shiewm ia voice vote. -- mr. schumer: